Chapter 77

The female emcee came on stage and tried to persuade the crowd multiple times, but it had no effect. Seeing that without a martial arts performance, the night wouldn’t end, Song Haowen had to put down the microphone, took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and performed a set of Chen-style Tai Chi on stage.

However, the audience felt it wasn’t exciting enough and shouted for him to perform more. He had to do a few consecutive backflips on stage to calm the excited audience.

Just as Song Haowen picked up the microphone again to sing, someone in the audience shouted loudly, saying, “Rumors are spreading outside that you took down more than ten people all by yourself. Is it true? Can I challenge you? Let’s see if your kung fu is as impressive as they say.”

Upon hearing this, everyone in the music studio was surprised, realizing that the person was there to provoke.

Tian Nana, backstage, was furious with a flushed face. However, she couldn’t walk to the front of the stage to advise Song Haowen not to pay attention.

She could only send the female emcee up to smooth things over with the audience and help Song Haowen get out of the situation.

But by this time, the audience’s emotions had already been stirred up, and the whistles and cheers were deafening.

Song Haowen thought, “If I don’t show some skills today, it seems the show won’t end well.” So, he calmly walked to the front of the stage and said to the audience, “Today, I’m in a good mood, so I’ll make an exception to satisfy your curiosity. This won’t happen again. Anyone who wants to spar with me can come up on stage. We can discuss how to do it.”

After Song Haowen spoke, the whole venue fell silent for a moment, but soon it erupted. A dozen young people, confident in their skills, jumped onto the stage, facing Song Haowen.

Gu Ziwei didn’t expect to witness a martial arts showdown. Her small face turned excitedly red as she squeezed to the front, raising her seagull camera to capture the thrilling fight scenes.

Song Haowen didn’t notice Gu Ziwei; he smiled at the challengers on stage and said, “Is it just you guys? I can spar with you. One by one or all at once, it’s up to you. But there’s one rule: no weapons, no intentionally hurting each other. If you can’t agree to these two rules, I won’t compete with you.”

The challengers expressed their agreement.

“Don’t worry, we’ll just have a bare-handed competition.”

“I’m afraid you won’t withstand my punch.”

“If I accidentally injure you, don’t blame me.”

“Seeing you’re so slender and young, I’ll take you on alone for a few moves.”

“With hundreds of spectators present, who would dare to use foul play unless they don’t want to live anymore.”

At this moment, the female emcee glanced at Song Haowen, got his approval, and walked up to the challengers.

She said, “Let one person step forward first. Others, stay below the stage and watch. The rule is to stop at the point. Who’s coming first? Step up!”

After some discussion, the challengers decided to have a young man who looked sturdy, with a center-parted haircut and a mustache, step forward.

Haowen stared at the young man and said, “You go first!”

The young man hesitated, seemingly feeling awkward to go first as he thought he might be older than his opponent.

However, seeing Song Haowen’s resolute attitude, he clenched his fist, about the size of a bowl, and threw a punch towards Song Haowen’s chest.

Just as everyone was worried for Song Haowen, he smoothly twisted his body, seized the young man’s arm as he missed the punch, and smoothly swung him aside.

The young man stumbled forward three or five steps and, with a “plop,” fell onto the stage. Although the young man wasn’t injured, it was clear he lost. He got up, greeted with a wry smile, and left the stage with a red face.

Seeing the first challenger defeated so quickly, the others were both amazed and scared, hesitating whether to participate.

Song Haowen, seeing their hesitation, secretly chuckled to himself and boldly said, “You don’t need to hesitate. I don’t have time to fight each of you. How about this, all of you come up together, and we’ll finish it quickly and go home.”

This statement shocked the entire audience.

People were thinking, how skilled must he be to face more than ten opponents alone? Some wanted to advise him not to be so bold to avoid embarrassment, but then they remembered the rumors of him single-handedly defeating a group of thugs. They held back their words and actions.

Tian Nana, having heard from her sister and mother that Song Haowen was good at fighting, worried about the large number of challengers.

Some of them might have malicious intentions, and accidents could happen. She couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Leaving aside Tian Nana’s concerns, the challengers, provoked by Song Haowen’s words, decided to take advantage of the situation, thinking that if they lost, Song Haowen couldn’t blame them. So, they all agreed to go up together.

Song Haowen immediately addressed the audience below, saying, “Please bear witness. Today, we are exchanging martial arts skills, fostering friendships through martial arts, not gathering to fight. I hope you understand.”

He then turned to the challengers and asked, “Regardless of the outcome, after the match, no attempts at revenge, can you agree?”

“Yes!” The challengers shouted in unison.

“Alright then, go ahead!” After saying this, Song Haowen took three or four steps back, creating some distance from the challengers to maneuver.

The challengers, feeling confident in their numbers, didn’t take Song Haowen seriously.

With a rush, they all raised their fists and charged.

Song Haowen, not showing off, swiftly moved his body, using both hands and feet.

In a dazzling flurry of attacks, the challengers fell one after another like they were bewitched, continuously making humming sounds as if performing a vocal act.

In just a moment, none of the challengers were left standing; they all lay on the ground.

In an instant, jaws dropped all over the theater, scattering on the floor with a clatter. Everyone was momentarily stunned, mouths hanging open, forgetting to breathe.

The camera in Gu Ziwei’s hands hadn’t even clicked the shutter yet when it went “snap” and fell to the ground, rendered useless.

She remained oblivious, still posing with her hands ready to take pictures. Tian Nana, standing backstage, had tears silently streaming down her face, like pearls falling off a broken string.

The music studio staff present were overwhelmed with pride and excitement.

Song Haowen, seeing all the audience staring at him in disbelief, was dumbfounded, silent. He then chuckled at himself, “Sorry, I got a bit nervous and attacked too quickly. My bad, got a bit carried away there.”

The injured challengers on the ground were instantly angered by embarrassment. They cursed inwardly, “Damn it! Look at this show-off, can he fit the whole Earth in there? We’re already injured like this; can’t you stop stabbing us in the heart? Please, have some mercy, dude, is that too much to ask?”

Upon hearing Song Haowen’s words, Gu Ziwei couldn’t hold back a “pfft” and burst into laughter. In her mind, she kept saying, “Sorry,” but she believed that if she didn’t laugh, she might have been forced to internal injuries.

At this moment, the audience finally woke up and emitted a series of breathtaking “Ah” sounds. This sound might have been acceptable when made by men, but when uttered by girls…

The music studio had a cafeteria that provided lunch and dinner for staff and late-night snacks for performers.

Usually, actors refrained from eating a full dinner before their performances for better stage effects. Thus, after their shows, they would rush to the cafeteria to grab a decent meal.

However, due to the special circumstances today and everyone’s concern for Song Haowen’s performance, hardly anyone went to the cafeteria immediately after the performance.

They all waited backstage, leading to a crowded cafeteria after the event.

Considering that Gu Ziwei hadn’t had much for dinner, when Su Yan saw her, she took her to a small private room in the cafeteria.

When they entered, Song Haowen and Tian Nana were already seated inside. Since a huge burden had been lifted from Su Yan’s heart, she was quite pleased.

The cafeteria prepared a few extra dishes for the four of them and even brought some wine, which was a rare occurrence.

It was the first time Tian Nana had seen Song Haowen fight, and she was in awe of his martial arts skills, admiring him wholeheartedly.

She had the look of a little fangirl, continuously asking questions and making gestures like a curious baby.

Gu Ziwei, feeling less involved in the conversation, started interviewing Su Yan. Although Su Yan knew little about the events from the previous night, she had witnessed the green-haired troublemaker being beaten at the gate in the evening, providing valuable insights to Gu Ziwei.

After finishing their late-night snack, Gu Ziwei’s interview with Song Haowen was nearly complete.

Unfortunately, her camera was broken, and she couldn’t take any photos. She had to rely on her writing skills to vividly describe the events.

After seeing off Gu Ziwei, Su Yan and her daughter, concerned for Song Haowen’s safety, didn’t allow him to ride his bike. Instead, they insisted he take a taxi and emphasized safety measures before finally letting him go.

When Song Haowen returned to the business store, not only were Zhu Hongyu and Ren Hua there, but Qian Youlai and Wang Li had also stayed behind.

Learning that everyone was worried about his safety and hadn’t even had dinner, he was moved.

He immediately wanted to arrange for them to go out for a meal. They explained that the food in the kitchen was already cold, as everyone was waiting for him to return safely.

Now that he was back, everyone’s mood instantly improved, and the food tasted much better. They rushed into the kitchen, grabbed bowls and chopsticks, and began eating.

Having eaten a hearty meal in the music studio earlier, Song Haowen even had a couple of shots of white wine. He had no intention of eating again, but seeing the four of them enjoying their meal, he felt a strong desire to eat, though his stomach disagreed. He reluctantly resisted the urge.

After the four finished their meal, Qian Youlai and Wang Li immediately went back home. Zhu Hongyu and Ren Hua stayed overnight in the office. They discussed electrical repairs and matters related to the store for a while before heading to rest.